Classics, experimental art and unique finds: here are five reasons to visit the Finnish Glass Museum

At the Finnish Glass Museum, a range of themed exhibitions are always on display, offering a deeper look into the work of Finnish and international designers and glass artists.

Opening on 25 April, the major exhibition ‘BUBBLE - Captured in Glass’ celebrates the successful career of Finnish glass artist and designer Timo Sarpaneva. This year marks 100 years since Sarpaneva’s birth.

The exhibition space is filled with Sarpaneva’s impressive glass works, where the bubble theme appears in different forms. It includes iconic pieces from the Iittala glass factory as well as masterpieces created on the island of Murano in Italy, where Sarpaneva worked during his career.

The exhibition explores the connection between creativity and innovation, as well as the seamless collaboration between the designer and glassblowers. It highlights in particular Sarpaneva’s favoured ‘stick-blowing’ technique and its artistic variations, along with the development of glass techniques and his bold experiments. The ‘The ’BUBBLE – Captured in Glass’ exhibition will be on view until the end of the year.

In addition to the rotating themed exhibitions, the Finnish Glass Museum always features a permanent exhibition that presents Finnish glass design and art across different eras. On the first floor, visitors are introduced to the early stages of glass as well as production methods, including glassblowing, machine production and surface decoration techniques.

On the second floor, you can explore the museum’s impressive glass collection. The Design Hall tells the story of Finnish glass design, while the central hall displays, among other things, crystal and packaging glass such as bottles and jars.

The Finnish Glass Museum has been housed since 1980 in the former factory building of Riihimäen Lasi Oy, where the museum exhibitions were designed by academician Tapio Wirkkala. The same building has also been home to a plastics factory and a silk-screen printing workshop, and most recently to Riihimäki Glass’s crystal grinding facility. The current museum café is located in what was once the glass factory’s horse stable.

Riihimäki is known as a glass town, with a long history in the glass industry and several glass factories having operated in the area. In the glass studios at the Old Glass Factory in Riihimäki (Lasismi and Mafka & Alakoski, address Lasitehtaanaukio 2), active glassblowers are still at work, and their craft can be observed during a museum visit.

The museum is set in a beautiful and fascinating environment that you can explore on a walk alongside your visit. Less than a kilometre away is Hyttikortteli, a residential area built in the early 1900s for glass factory workers. Its charming wooden and brick buildings are now privately owned homes, forming a lively neighbourhood inhabited by artists and craftspeople from various fields. In summer, the Glass Museum also hosts events including the Riihimäki Summer Concerts.

One of the best things about the Finnish Glass Museum is the sheer variety of its collection. The exhibition space covers around 1,700 square metres, and across the museum’s three floors you’ll find not only unique art glass but also everyday objects and products that have become classics of Finnish design – vases, drinking glasses, bottles and decorative items. Every visitor is bound to spot something familiar among the exhibitions.

In addition to preserving Finland’s glass heritage, the Finnish Glass Museum also has an active international exhibition and events programme. The museum regularly hosts exhibitions by international artists, and also organises touring and exchange exhibitions abroad. Finnish glass is particularly well known in Europe, the United States and Asia.

Every other year, the museum co-organises the Finnish Glass Biennale, which brings together lovers of glass art and cultural tourism as well as industry professionals from Finland and abroad.